8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion
The 8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, raised by the British Army during the Second World War. The battalion was created in late 1942 by the conversion of the 13th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment to parachute duties. The battalion was assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade, serving alongside the 7th and 9th Parachute battalions, in the 1st Airborne Division before being reassigned to help form the 6th Airborne Division in May 1943.
Cap badge of the Parachute Regiment
8th Parachute Battalion soldier armed with the Sten submachine gun, he has a toggle rope around his neck and is wearing the airborne forces steel helmet and the Denison smock May 1943.
Parachute troops jumping from a Whitley bomber near Windsor England.
General Sir Bernard Montgomery greets RSM A. Parsons of the 8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion during an inspection of the 6th Airborne Division at Bulford, Wiltshire, 8 March 1944.
Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)
The Parachute Regiment, colloquially known as the Paras, is the airborne and infantry regiment of the British Army. The first battalion is part of the Special Forces Support Group under the operational command of the Director Special Forces. The other battalions are the parachute infantry component of the British Army's rapid response formation, 16 Air Assault Brigade. The Paras, along with the Guards, are the only line infantry regiment of the British Army that has not been amalgamated with another unit since the end of the Second World War.
British parachute troops on exercise in Norwich 23 June 1941
Parachute training (1942)
British paratrooper of the 8th Parachute Battalion armed with the Sten gun wearing the airborne forces steel helmet and the Denison Smock (1943).
September 1953 parachute exercise by the 16th Airborne Division